Day 73, Thursdsy, October 20, Whitehorse day 26
The saga that started 26 days ago on that darkening, cold, remote, empty, grizzly-inhabited stretch of the Alaska Highway in God's private garden in the Yukon has taken another step forward today, in fact, two steps.
First, Pacific Northwest promised delivery of the engine by noon to Travis, the owner with his charming wife Chantel of John's Auto Repair shop, and they delivered it by 10:00. Despite UPS's padding the required delivery date with an extra five days, i will give them credit for bettering their restated required delivery date by a few hours.
Second, as i wrote earlier, there was no way that i could expect Travis on less than two days' notice to drop everything in his shop and get to the Defender as soon as the engine arrived, but thst is precisely what he did. That's the way things are done up in this neck of the woods, people first. Thank God Whitehorse is so remote because that distance provides some kind of protection against the societal ills that affect all of us down south. This is one of those things you have to experience yourself to believe. It truly is a community here.
Incidentally, there are 35,000 people who live in the Yukon Territory, 27,000 of whom live in Whitehorse. By far the largest employer is the Yukon government. It truly is a cosmopolitan town with theatres, art centers, museums. What baffles me though is how such a small community can sustain the many diverse, highly spcialized businesses you see as you drive the easy-to-navigate streets downtown. You don't need Google here to find a business; just drive the streets. And as you drive the streets, you have the feeling of another time period, the Klondike frontier era. Even Starbucks goes along with the theme, but not Walmart.
Ialready changed my ferry reservations to October 31. Even if Travis told me the Defender will be ready Saturday, i would keep the 31st reservation as i need time to break in the engine. And i do not want them to feel they are up against a deadline. If this were an oil change, maybe, but not an engine change. The good news is that Aileen offered to rent me one of her trucks for $40 a day instead if Budget Rental's $100, so my marginal daily costs are now $65 a day instead of the $267 they would have been had i rented a hotel room and the car. What a saint that woman is!
For the first time in almost four weeks i can sit back, relax and wait. There are probably more than a dozen moving parts in play with this layover at this time and i will just think of them as pieces in a well rehearsed 12-piece orchestra and listen. As Gary Lewis told me today, i have certainly done all i can do to get back on the road in the Defender, and he is right.
Now i have to go convince Budge Car Rental that i did not purposely destroy their windshield, the weather and Ford's engineers did.
Speaking of the weather, it is absolutely splendid outside today, clear sky, sun, about 34*F. I understand it was 85 yesterday back in DC. And people wonder why i take these trips north at this time of the year?
More tomorrow.
Photo...The new engine uncrated.
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